Boston’s Minorities Hit Hardest By Swine Flu
BOSTON — Boston public health officials are concerned about data showing minorities are disproportionately hospitalized for H1N1 influenza, or swine flu.
Officials reported 480 confirmed cases of swine flu statewide as of Aug. 1. Three-quarters of people hospitalized for swine flu in Boston during the spring outbreak were black or Hispanic.
“That’s cause for alarm,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission. Ferrer said she observed the highest caseload in the neighborhoods of Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan and East Boston, which are densely populated by people with low incomes and by minorities.
The higher number of H1N1 cases among minorities, Ferrer said, reflects the unequal distribution of other illnesses in Boston and across the country.
Ferrer said it’s difficult for low-wage workers to stay home when they fall ill or when a child does, so the H1N1 virus spreads at workplaces and public places.
Ferrer also noted a disparity in the severity of the illness among Boston’s minorities. Forty-nine percent of people hospitalized had asthma, an underlying condition that is more common among blacks and Latinos versus whites and people of other ethnicities. Other underlying problems, such as heart conditions and diabetes, increase the risk of complications.
To prevent the spread of H1N1 swine flu, Ferrer recommends the basics:
- Wash your hands frequently.
- When you cough, cover your mouth with a sleeve or a tissue, then wash your hands.
- Stay home when you’re sick — and remain at home for 24 hours after fever has subsided.
- Get vaccinated. Ferrer said there is no shortage of vaccinations for the seasonal flu; when the swine flu vaccine is released later this year, some people will be prioritized to receive the vaccine first.
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Minorityperson asks whether the problem is impoverished minorities or minorities who happen to be impoverished but the article lists the hardest hit neighborhoods. I am not from Boston so I don’t know, but are those neighborhoods filled with minorities? If they are not, then the question would be why are minorities overly affected? If they are, and the issue is actually poverty, why aren’t white low-income areas as deeply affected? Or are there no pockets of poor white people in Boston?
I think regardless, if the numbers are correct then it is showing that minorities, for whatever reason, are being hit hard. So instead of worrying about the wording, it would be more wise for minorities to take the message and be pro-active in keeping well.
I wonder if anyone has studied the professions of those catching the flu. It would seem that those at the largest risk for infection are those in the cleaning and medical industry. The Medical industry takes all kinds of measures to protect themselves, but how many maids, janitors are that lucky. Since minorities are over repersented in those fields, perhaps that is a major factor.
It was curious that you reported this swine flue concentration and severity as affecting minorities. I asked myself if it is really a lower-income issue, or a densely populated neighborhood issue. Are more middle-class minorities affected than middle class majorities? Are lower-income majorities of the same neighborhoods and other dimensions less affected than lower-income minorities? The way your headline leads with stating that minorities are affected more is dis-colored to me and has a very disturbing implication. The fact is, and you do not have to be a genius to deduce it, poor people are less informed about staying healthy, have less time to care for themselves, have less access to healthcare, have less money to even buy flu medicine, live in more densely populated neighborhoods, etc., and it is a problem of poverty. The same can be said of many other problems that people always profess affects minorities, instead of stating that it actually affects poor people. The reason I like public radio is that you do not go for sensation headlines as much. Please keep your perspective on the root causes – is swine flu really affecting minorities who happen to be poor, or poor people who happen to be minorities?